Fate of the Romulans
by Sage1988
Summary: Nero hid his anger and lust for revenge behind a crusade to 'build a better future for his people'. How did his actions affect the Romulan Star Empire, and how would the rewritten history see him in generations to come?


_I do not own Star Trek_

**Fate of the Romulans**

Nero had intended to save his homeworld and his wife and child from the fate that had befallen them in the twenty fifth century. The fact that by altering history might make things worse for his people did not even enter his mind, his anger and hatred at the Federation and Spock blinding his common sense and better judgement.

And as so many others who had tried to alter history in the past had discovered for themselves, by altering the past he did indeed make things worse for his people, increasing their suffering furthered than ever.

When he destroyed Rura Pethe and the fleet of forty seven Klingon warbirds, he sent a shockwave through the Klingon Empire; so many of the best ships lost and amongst the dead the some of the sons of the most powerful houses in the Empire, including the entire male leadership of the House of Duras wiping out their line forever. The destruction of the fleet sparked a rage in the Klingons unseen since the time of Kahless as a species for the very first time since they had become an empire they united in their hatred and set out to destroy the Romulan Star Empire under the leadership of the House of Mogh.

The trade of technology between the two empires that in the unaltered time line would have allowed the Romulans access to better ship designs and technology never happened. The unpowered birds of prey used by the Romulans were no match for the battle hardened warships of the Klingons as they smashed through the defences of the Romulan borders. The cloaking device gave the Romulans the chance to hold them off for a while but soon the Klingons learned how to see through them after they seized the technology from the colonies they invaded. Millions were slaughtered and those that survived were sold into slavery beneath the cruel whip of their new Klingon masters. The Praetor himself was publicly tortured to death, slowly so to crush any idea of revolt before they burned Romulans to a cinder in space as the population who hadn't managed to escape died screaming. The Remans, their reputation as formidable warriors impressed the new rulers of the twin planets were soon absorbed into Klingon Empire taking great pleasure in inflicting as much pain on their former masters as possible.

Some Romulans however on colonies that were near the Federation Border and what ships that were left managed to flee under the leadership of a Commander named Keras to the only place left to them that they could where they would be safe…

The United Federation of Planets, out of pure necessity and fear of the Klingons they put aside their hatred of humans and placed themselves at their former enemy's mercy. But they discovered that there was little mercy to be had, Nero's attacks on the Federation the first being the _USS Kelvin_, the second being the wiping of the fleet at Vulcan, Vulcan itself one of the original founders of the Federation and the murder of its six billion inhabitants and finally the attempted attack on Earth had taken its toll too. Like in the Klingons a hatred of the Romulans had been stoked so strong that the Federation had nearly sent them back to the Klingons but after a long and heated internal debate the Federation took them in.

But this was at a cost.

The refugees were placed on a world that was barely habitable far from their old space were they could be save from Klingon attacks but all their military equipment was stripped from them with only limited food and medicine being sent in return. Legislation was drawn up in the Federation Council that prevented a Romulan holding any position of authority in the Federation and banning them from serving in Starfleet or any other Federation institution. They struggled to cope under the harsh conditions of the world with ill-health and starvation becoming the norm, their hatred turned towards Nero, without him they reasoned this would never have had.

But a beacon of hope for the Romulan refugees began to shine that would light the way for the others later on. From a race that had more reason to hate the Romulans than any other…

The Vulcans

They didn't see it as logical to hold them responsible for the actions of one man and his mad crew, so they gathered the more enlightened members of the Federation Council and went about making life better for those Romulans whose lives were not bond in chains to the Klingons, finding them a better world and getting more assistance for the refugees hoping to mend the gap that had emerged between them and Federation with kindness that would allow them to rebuild their race, getting the restricting legislation removed piece by piece. They even worked with Starfleet Intelligence to set up an underground railroad to get freed Romulan slaves from the Klingon Empire to freedom in the Federation.

The Federation they reasoned needed to be reminded about what it was meant to be, a peaceful organisation devoted to exploration, diplomacy and the defence of its citizens. And grumbling all the way the Federation started to treat the Romulans better and slowly started to embrace them as citizens and finally in 2306 the first Romulan ever a young woman named Merel the granddaughter of Keras joined Starfleet Academy and endured the bigotry to graduate with full honours and went on to serve as not only a great officer and later captain for Starfleet but as a beacon to other young Romulans who would follow in her footsteps.

But one thing they had never forgotten no had anyone else forgotten was how the actions of one man had caused this and forever his name would be cursed by his own people…

Nero

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX X**

_I was going through some old files and I came across this so I added the finishing touches and posted it. _

_Keras by the way is the name of the Romulan Commander from the Original Series Episode 'Balance of Terror'_


End file.
